Of the many coffee shops we've visited in PE the ones that stand out in my mind (and end up being on my short list of favorites) are the ones that have cool stories behind them and, as a result, a lot of character. Our most recent Crawl took us to Toys & Teas, a coffee shop with TONS of character.
Rarely do I call ahead to any of the Crawl sites but last week I did call Yvonne Burger, owner of Toys & Teas, to get the lowdown on what I heard was a toy museum at the shop. Yes, Toys & Teas is actually a combination Toy Museum and Coffee Shop located at 68 Worraker St. in Newton Park (between 6th and 7th Avenues). Well, Yvonne said she'd be happy to host our Crawl group and would even give us a half price discount on the usual R10 entry fee to the museum!
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| Meet the Owner Yvonne Burger |
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| Outside Patio Seating |
When I arrived on Thursday Yvonne greeted me and showed me around her dual purpose place of business. The breakfast foods being prepared for other patrons smelled so good that I knew I wouldn't get through the Crawl without ordering more than coffee. Anyway, back to the tour... the coffee shop area seats about 40 people inside and 20 outside in the back patio area. This outside area also serves as a venue for daytime and evening braai functions/events. Back inside Yvonne gave me a sneak peak at the toy museum... more on that later.
The decor of Toys & Teas features all types of collectibles from kitchen tins and tools to doll houses, rocking horses and train sets. Two things that caught my eye were the upright piano in the corner and an old Underwood typewriter.
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| This Week's Crawlers Nomusa, Fran, Gail Beryl, Stella, June |
The rest of Thursday's Crawlers, June Nash and her grandson, Luke, Nomusa Nkomo, Fran de Beer, Gail Darne, and Stella and Beryl Dawson, arrived and joined me as I continued to take in all that was on display. We could have spent all day looking around but for the smell of freshly brewing Masterton's coffee. Now, as the shop's name suggests, the focus is mainly on different types of tea, so the coffee selection on the menu is limited to regular and decaf filter coffee (at R12 for a bottomless cup!!! -- can't beat that!). Fine by me in that my daily coffee beverage of choice, contrary to what many may believe, is black coffee, no cream, no sugar. The coffee was excellent and went especially well with the lemon meringue! Fran and I agreed that Toys & Teas' lemon meringue is the best we've had at any of the coffee shops. Those Crawlers who indulged in the carrot cake raved over their choice as well. Along with desserts/cakes Toys & Teas serves full breakfasts and light lunches. Off-site catering and on-site braais (mentioned earlier) are also available. The shop's hours are Mon-Fri, 8-4 and Sat, 8-1.
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| Luke enjoying his Coke float |
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| Meet the Toys & Teas Staff Blossom, Esther, Gloria |
After we all had our fill of coffee/tea/cake the Crawlers set out to explore the Toy Museum whose main door is situated inside the coffee shop. The museum is full to bursting with every type of collectible toy imaginable. Yvonne and her husband, Emile, have been working on their collection for 35 years... an amazing array of toy soldiers, miniature cars, dolls, trolls, action figures, way more Smurfs than I ever thought existed, a really cool display of the evolution of kids' size Singer sewing machines (the most recent being the one I had when I was about 8), and much, much, much more!
We spent close to an hour in the museum and then went back into the coffee shop to check out more of the Burgers' extensive collection. Needless to say, given the wonderful coffee/cake, the relaxed and cozy atmosphere and the incredible Toy Museum, Toys & Teas was a real hit for the PE Coffee Crawlers!
~Thank you to owners, Yvonne and Emile Burger
~Thank you to the Toys & Teas Staff
~A gentle reminder to Jeff and Liz.... DON'T FORGET TO FILE YOUR TAXES!!!!!!!!!
Until next week,
Ellen
Enjoy these pics from the Toy Museum.....
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| You're way too young to remember this, Gail! |
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SMURFS!!!!  |
